


It Can't Be You

by PechoraFlow



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: How Do I Tag, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Iron Dad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Soul Stone (Marvel), Spider-son, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony-centric, Vormir, What-If, i really hope thats how u spell it, nobody has predicted what happens yet, not really a fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 09:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18825922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PechoraFlow/pseuds/PechoraFlow
Summary: Peter and Tony escape the Snap, but May, Pepper, and many other friends do not. After five months of creating a new life in a cabin on the river as unofficial father and son, they decide to help the other surviving Avengers with the whole time-traveling scheme. They have their missions. All Peter and Tony have to do is go back to space and track down the soul stone on Vormir.Basically I switched Clint and Natasha for Tony and Peter because I don't know how to handle my emotions.Excerpt:He kept the nanotech unit on his chest. The weight of it was comforting as it rested on his aching scars, and he thought, at this point, he deserved some small comfort.Three...two...One.





	It Can't Be You

Vormir was a much colder place than Tony thought it would be.

Sure, space was cold, but he just...didn’t expect it to be snowing on the planet’s surface. Peter had commented on how it reminded him of a sort-of Hoth/Tatooine hybrid. Tony had given him a look and encouraged him to watch movies other than Star Wars. A repertoire of material was always useful.

Finally, after crossing a few miles of cool desert, they reached the mountain with the ominous storm pooling above it. Peter trudged alongside him as they climbed the unused steps of stone, Tony leading as the kid watched their backs. Not that there was any danger to be looking for – it wasn’t like there was any other life on the planet.

Aside from the initial Star Wars reference, Peter had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since they landed. It was fairly common knowledge that, in the five months since the Snap, Tony had taken in the newly orphaned Peter Parker. It wasn’t exactly on news stations – most had shut down for a few weeks, anyway – but word eventually got out. Not that it bothered them; they had figured that people needed something to distract them, and they were more than willing to be that distraction.

But five months was enough time to get to know someone pretty well (particularly if your contacts list had been halved in under a minute). After spending most of that time in a cabin on the river, just the two of them, Tony was fairly confident that he knew most everything there was to know about Peter.

And so, with the few hundred steps they had left, he decided to get to the bottom of why Peter wasn’t chattering as he usually was.

Tony glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the antsy face of his protégé. Peter’s eyes flitted from left to right with anxious fervor, flexing his wrists in anticipation of using his webshooters. “There’s nobody here, kid,” Tony said. Peter’s head snapped up to look at him. “What, don’t like spending time with me?”

“No, of course I do,” Peter said hastily. “It’s just...really quiet.” He started looking around again. “I’ve never been anywhere this quiet before.”

Tony nodded. “Right. New York’s a pretty loud place.”

“Yeah,” Peter breathed a laugh. “You could say that. Even when my door was closed, I could hear for like, a block. But here’s just...I don’t know. It’s quiet.”

“Nice quiet or calm-before-storm quiet?” Tony asked.

Peter rubbed his palm furiously. “I...don’t know. Something feels weird.”

“Might be bad vibes from Thanos,” Tony suggested, and Peter nodded, ready to accept that explanation. “You keep your eyes out, though. I don’t want anything sneaking up on you. Nobody’s getting any eggs in their chest today.”

Peter offered a smile, and Tony counted it as a win. “Right. That would be bad.”

Tony turned a corner and froze, instantly putting out a hand to make sure Peter didn’t go in front of him. A few feet ahead of them was a cloaked figure, hovering in the middle of the path. A rough hood slid the being’s face into shadow, hiding its identity from the two newcomers.

Peter grabbed Tony’s shoulder sleeve. “Mr. Stark,” he whispered. “Why is there a Ring Wraith in space?”

“Anthony, son of Howard,” the figure announced. “Peter, son of Richard. You have come to seek the soul stone.”

“We actually came for a little family vacation,” Tony remarked. “But the soul stone would be nice. Where is it- Do you have a gift shop or something?”

“No,” the figure said humorlessly, “your wealth is useless here. Come with me.”

The figure turned and touched the ground, moving up the stairs calmly. Tony and Peter stood in place, still a little caught off-guard from the appearance of another life form. The former regained his wits and gestured to the path the figure had taken. “Onwards and upwards.”

“Why didn’t he just fly up the stairs?” Peter asked Tony. “If I could fly, I’d fly up the stairs all the time.”

“Maybe it makes him tired or something,” Tony suggested, moving to follow the figure. “I can fly and I don’t cheat stairs.”

Peter moved with him as they ascended. “But it doesn’t make you tired.”

“Drains power.”

“So it makes _Iron Man_ tired.”

“Kid, I am Iron Man.”

The conversation fell silent as the two reached the top of the mountain, where the figure was waiting for them. From their vantage point, they could easily see where they had left Rocket’s ship, and beyond. The same darkened, damp desert stretched for miles in every direction, the pools of water reflecting a stormy sky.

Above their heads, the height of the storm boiled in the clouds. Some sort of bright light reflected from the vortex, illuminating the platform they stood on in a cold blue light.

“I am the Keeper of the soul stone,” the figure introduced. With the light from above, Tony could make out red, bony features just peaking out from the opening of the hood. “I have stood guard for lifetimes, leading the way for the few who come prepared.

“The soul stone requires a sacrifice. To receive the stone, you must forfeit a soul – the soul of the one you love the most.”

“The Law of Equivalent Exchange,” Peter said softly.

Tony frowned and stepped toward the red figure. “What if we lost that already? What if your pal Thanos already took them?”

 _Pepper_.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tony saw Peter look away. _May._

The figure looked at him evenly. “You still have more to lose.”

A horrible thought occurred to him, feeling like an icicle that had been stabbed into his chest.

He met Peter’s eyes and found the same realization and subdued horror echoing back at him.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t think you’re understanding what I’m saying,” Tony insisted as the red figure listened with patience. “See, narcissism is love of oneself. So, I would have to give up my own soul for the stone. But see, then I’d be dead. There’s the issue here.”

“The boy would lose that which he loves,” the red figure countered, nodding at Peter, who stood some distance away. “Therefore, he would get the stone.”

Tony followed the figure’s gaze and felt his heart stop when he noticed that Peter was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking straight down without so much as an inch of ground between him and Death. “Kid, back the hell up. If I die of a heart attack, nobody’s getting the stone.”

Peter looked up guiltily and nodded, shuffling over to a nearby boulder and sitting down against it instead.

“Okay, what if-”

“Whoever dies, the other will receive the stone,” the red figure said with finality.

“I don’t think there’s any other way out of this one, Mr. Stark,” came Peter’s small voice.

Tony looked over at his protégé, who had moved his legs to rest his forehead on his knees. He looked so small, like that first night back on Earth, when they had been placed in the same recovery room but in beds that were so far apart, they couldn’t touch. Tony remembered feeling so helpless as he looked at, Peter, who had been so thin, so frail, that he was barely able to lift the corners of his mouth into a smile.

With one last glare at the impartial red figure, Tony walked over to Peter and stopped, a little concerned at the teen’s lack of a reaction. “I’m gonna sit here, so move the leg,” Tony jested, playfully kicking at Peter’s foot.

The teenager shuffled out of the way silently. Tony sat down, using the boulder as support.

For a few moments, neither of them said anything.

Tony watched the red figure for a moment, who watched him back passively, as if he was watching reruns of _Friends_ or something.

“I bet he’s lying,” Tony said in a low voice, leaning closer to Peter. “I mean, he can’t get that much entertainment out here. I bet he’s bored.”

“The other Peter’s girlfriend died here,” Peter said, still not looking up. “Maybe this is where she died. Maybe that’s how Thanos got the soul stone.”

Tony scoffed. “Thanos didn’t love her.”

“Maybe not,” Peter acquiesced, “but maybe she was the one he loved most. The closest thing...”

Another silence fell, this one heavier than the last.

Tony crossed his arms and leaned all the way back against the boulder. “Mr. Dementor over there is just trying to make us feel bad, and that’s it.”

Peter turned his head ever so slightly to look at him, revealing one eye that gleamed with what Tony imagined was amusement. “You watched Harry Potter?”

“And read the books,” Tony agreed. “Of course I did. You told me to watch them back in October. I wasn’t going to miss another one of your references if I could help it.”

Peter laughed – a choked, watery sound, and before Tony could say anything, the slight laughter turned into sobbing. The kid pressed his eyes into his kneecaps, his shoulders trembling with shaky breaths.

Tony wordlessly put an arm around Peter’s shoulders, gently pulling so that the teen’s weight was against him. They had sat like this before – movie nights, campfires, anxiety attacks... And to think that, beforehand, the most Tony had been comfortable with was a reassuring pat on the shoulder. In five short months, Tony had become so comfortable with Peter’s presence against his side, that having him there felt as if he had found his matching puzzle piece.

One thing was certain: Tony could not- _would_ not lose Peter.

He didn’t want to consider what was going happen in the next few moments of his life – the last few moments, assuming what the red figure said was true. He wanted to pretend like there was still a way out of this, a different solution, but it seemed...

It seemed as though they were out of luck.

Out of time.

“If this has to happen,” Tony started quietly, “then we both know who it’s gotta be. You’ve got your Aunt May, Ned, that girl – MJ, and you’ve got at least another sixty or eighty years to go. A hundred years, if I have anything to say about it.”

Peter let go of his knees and wrapped his arms tightly around Tony, who gladly turned his side-hug into a fierce embrace.

Strange, how, even though the planet was cold, Peter’s soft curls were warm. They still smelled faintly of that CVS strawberry shampoo he liked so much.

Tony didn’t want to let go.

“It’s gotta be me, Pete,” Tony murmured, pressing his face into Peter’s hair. “We both know it’s gotta be me.”

Peter’s cries grew quiet, but the shaking hadn’t stopped. “No,” he whispered.

“It can’t be you, kiddo,” Tony reasoned. “I won’t let it be. Let me do this.”

Peter shook his head against Tony’s collarbone. “N-no.”

Tony pulled back and looked into Peter’s face, keeping a hand cupped on the teen’s cheek. Peter opened his teary eyes and gazed back at him dutifully. “Somebody’s gotta get that stone,” Tony said. “There are too many people counting on us. When I met you, do you remember what you told me?”

“Don’t-” Peter tried.

Tony went on. “You said that if someone had the opportunity to do something, and they did nothing, then whatever happens is their fault. Kid, that’s what this is. If I don’t do this, then the death of half the universe? That’s on us, too. I can’t have that on my conscience. Do you understand me, Pete?”

Peter squeezed his eyes shut and nodded, drawing a shaky breath in through his nose.

Pushing aside the tightness in his throat and ignoring the awkwardness that always came with honesty, he pressed a kiss to the kid’s forehead and pulled him close again, bundling him to his chest. He had never been quite so open with Peter, but if this was the last bit of time they would have between the both of them, then he’d be damned if he didn’t show exactly how much he cared for the kid.

“I love you, kiddo,” Tony confessed, hugging him tighter. “So much.”

“I love you too,” Peter returned.

The man selfishly allowed himself a few more moments where Peter was comfortably held in his arms, committing the feeling of the kid’s face against his neck to memory, but eventually, Tony pulled back. Peter wouldn’t meet his eyes.

Tony wiped away the tears on Peter’s face with his thumbs. _Say something-_ What should he say? What could possibly comfort Peter, even just for a moment?

He settled on the truth. “It can’t be you,” Tony whispered. “I wouldn’t let you.”

“I know,” Peter replied softly, unable to meet Tony’s gaze. “You have to make sacrifices sometimes, to keep the worst thing from happening.”

Tony felt the pride rise in his throat, tightening and making his vision blurry.

A little voice in the back of his mind reminded him of what still needed to be done, and if he didn’t jump now, he would never go through with it.

He deactivated his armor, waiting as the nanobots retreated into their storage unit on his chest. It wasn’t like he was going to be needing it, anyway.

He glanced one more time at Peter and ruffled his hair. The kid didn’t even protest this time, as he usually did when Tony messed with his hairstyle. There were no hands that came up to protect the hair, no noises of indignation – not even a huff.

Huh. Tony never thought he’d see the day.

The urge to say something to Peter or to hold him again threatened to overpower Tony, but he knew that if he kept delaying the inevitable, it would just be that much more painful later.

And so, he walked away from the kid, numbly moving to the middle of the platform, where he could see the edge of the cliff and beyond.

It really was a beautiful planet.

There were worse ways to die, he supposed. Besides – where else was he going to get a view like this?

He kept the nanotech unit on his chest. The weight of it was comforting as it rested on his aching scars, and he thought, at this point, he deserved some small comfort.

Three...two...

One.

He shifted his weight to start running and almost face-planted.

His feet wouldn’t move.

Frowning, he tugged again, but he was stuck in place.

With a sinking heart, he looked down and had his fears confirmed.

There, stretching across his foot and around his ankle, were thick nets of sticky, tight webbing.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark.”

Tony’s heart stopped.

He whipped up his head so fast that his head spun, but he ignored his dizziness in favor of Peter, who had dropped the condensed Iron Spider suit at his feet. He was only wearing the regular suit, now. No parachute, no remote activated rescue mechanisms, no safety protocols-

“Pete,” Tony tried, pulling at his feet in an attempt to get free- “Kid- Get me out of this- _It’s supposed to be me-_ ”

“It can’t be you, Mr. Stark,” Peter said. “The world still needs Iron Man. And I can’t lose anybody else.” His voice was frighteningly devoid of emotion now, in contrast to how he had been crying only a few moments ago.

And Tony was scared.

 _So scared_.

Tony reached out to Peter, trying to take hold of his hand, his suit, his shoulder- something, _anything_ that would allow him to keep Peter in place, up here, _safe_. “Kiddo, don’t- don’t do this-”

His fingertips brushed the teenager’s elbow, but he couldn’t get a grip, because Peter was running.

Straight for the cliff’s edge.

“Stop- _Peter!_ ” Tony yelled, his voice bordering on a shriek. Frantically, he activated his Iron Man suit-

Peter leapt into nothing, and fell.

“FRIDAY, _get me out of this webbing now!_ ” Tony barked. In response, the suit’s thrusters erupted. For a heart stopping second, the webbing held.

Then, it snapped, and Tony went flying.

He dove over the edge of the platform, putting the full power into his thrusters.

The red Spider-Man suit stood out against the blue stone ground and white snow in the air, making him easy to spot, even though he was rapidly gaining speed, drawing closer to the ground with every second-

“ _Faster,_ FRIDAY!” Tony urged, pushing the suit to its limits. He had to get there- He couldn’t let anyone else-

_Pepper, reaching for him as the port shook and sent her falling into a cloud of fire._

_Rhodey, immobile as his suit plummeted, flipping end over end towards the ground._

That wouldn’t happen again. He could see Peter – only a short distance away. If he could just go a little _faster-_

FRIDAY spoke up, “ _Boss, collision with ground in-”_

“How far is Peter?” Tony interrupted.

“ _Twenty feet below_ ,” FRIDAY answered.

“All power to thrusters,” Tony ordered. “ _Now!_ ”

He surged forward, and the red of Peter’s suit grew bigger-

He was _so close-_

_He reached out his hand desperately-_

 

It happened just like it had before.

One moment, Pepper was falling. Rhodey was falling.

He blinked.

Peter had hit the ground.

 

He slowed himself down, not even aware of his actions. At this point, he wasn’t sure if he was moving subconsciously, or by muscle memory, or if FRIDAY had taken over the suit to slow him down.

All he knew was that Peter had fallen.

Peter had jumped.

Peter had chosen Tony’s life over his own.

The helmet of the Iron Man suit retracted and Tony stumbled to Peter’s side in a haze, seeing the boy lying on the ground, and not quite seeing the stone beneath them that had claimed the life of his kid.

The teen’s brown eyes were still open, pale skin slowly accumulating snowflakes as his body temperature decreased. His brown hair was slick with dark crimson, which pooled beneath his head.

There was _so much_ blood-

_How was there so much blood-_

Tony reached out a shaking hand, intending to brush the curls back from Peter’s forehead as he often did, but he froze.

He couldn’t...

There was a statuesque nature about the boy – something almost reverent, as if touching his face, no matter how gently, would disturb the illusion of peaceful inaction, cracking it to reveal the unforgiving face of Death, who had been here all along.

Tony gripped Peter’s hand instead, squeezing tightly. There was no answering squeeze, as there usually was. No small smile or shoulder nudge.

There would never be any more of any of that.

Because Peter was dead.

Without warning, silent tears spilled over his eyelids and a sharp pain spread through Tony’s chest, feeling so much like palladium poisoning that he almost wanted FRIDAY to scan his blood toxicity.

He didn’t, of course, because he knew what heartache felt like. Perhaps he had been foolish when he had last wished to never feel it again.

Then, everything turned to nothing with a roll of thunder.

 

* * *

 

The first thing he was aware of was that he was floating.

His eyelids fluttered open and his gaze was met with the wispy celestial clouds above him. For a brief, blissful second, he forgot about everything he had lost in the last five minutes.

It all came rushing back in an instant, threatening to overwhelm him in a flood of emotion.

He sat up hurriedly, noticing that he had been in water only from the sound of splashing around him. Apart from the ripples that he created, there was no movement in the water. Beyond the edge of the pool, sand dunes stretched silently for miles in every direction, the desert bound by distant mountains. Peter was no longer by his side, no longer anywhere in sight, replaced instead by something small that Tony currently gripped in his hand, that illuminated the water with a soft luminescence.

Tony looked down at his hand, which had started to shake. Slowly, afraid of what he might find, he curled his fist.

There, lying in the palm of his hand, was a glowing orange stone.

Tony couldn’t help but think how similar the stone was to Peter. It was small, for one, but still shone brightly. In the relative half-darkness of the planet, it was a star that gleamed in defiance.

Tony gripped it again and held it close to his chest, letting his sobs wrack through his body.

No matter how much practice he had, he could never seem to catch anyone he loved in time.

 

* * *

 

Numb.

“Did we get them all?”

No, he left...

“Tony, where’s Peter?”

Tony fell to his knees, the stone still gripped tightly in his hand.

Natasha stepped forward slightly, her eyes narrowed. “Where is Peter?”

Tony lifted his hand, uncurling his fingers enough to show the stone, but not lose his grip on it. “He’s not...” his started, his voice trembling, “he’s...”

Someone knelt in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder. Tony looked up into the eyes of Steve, blue with flecks of green. “Tony, what happened?”

Tony took a shaky breath and looked down, trying to ignore the tears that started to blur his vision. “I lost the kid,” he whispered. “A soul for a soul, he said- It was supposed to be _me-_ I was there, I was about to jump and he just...he...” Tony choked on a sob, squeezing the stone again. It may have been wishful thinking, but it felt as though the stone was pulsing with warmth against the palm of his hand.

For a brief second, he regained enough composure to look back up at Steve. “He’s not coming back,” he breathed treacherously.

 

 

 

* * *

 

_“I am Iron Man.”_

_Click_.

 

* * *

 

 

 

He’d been here before, briefly.

It was a small apartment, and a little rough around the edges, but there was a distinctly homey feel to the beaten doors and worn sofa. It wasn’t as if the apartment was messy – on the contrary, the apartment was organized and tidy – but it wasn’t as...sterile as his Compound was.

Keyword: _was._ He highly doubted it would ever be the same after Thanos wrecked it-

Wait. He was just on the battlefield, with the gauntlet on his hand.

Where _was_ he?

He looked down at himself, surprised to find himself in one of his faded AC/DC shirts and his work jeans. No reactor, no armor, no gauntlet.

Frowning, he looked out a nearby window, expecting to find a busy city road. Instead, there was a lake, reflecting an orange sky that glowed without a sun.

Huh.

“I had hoped you wouldn’t be the one to do it,” a voice said from behind him.

He knew that voice. Trying to restrain his hope, he turned around.

There was Peter.

The teenager stood in the middle of the living room, wearing his usual attire of jeans and a soft sweater. There was no Spider-Man suit in sight, no webshooters, no blood-

He was just... _Peter_.

Peter smiled sadly. “You used the stones, didn’t you?”

Tony gripped the bookshelf behind him, his knuckles white from the strain. He wasn’t sure if he needed something to ground him, or if he was trying to not fall down, but whatever his reason was, it was compelling enough to keep him rooted to the spot.

“I didn’t get to see anything,” Peter said, “but the soul stone filled me in. It kind of...I dunno, talks to me? Maybe I’m losing it.” He chuckled, a light sound that seemed to draw the light from the room so that it landed solely on his smile.

“ _Peter_ ,” Tony breathed. He moved forward a few steps, breaking away from the bookshelf on unsure footing.

Peter nodded. “It’s me, Mr. Stark.”

That was all he needed to hear. Tony stumbled for a few steps and crashed into Peter, wrapping his arms around the smaller form. Peter hugged back, burying his face into the crook of his mentor’s neck.

Tony gripped the fabric of Peter’s sweater, his fingers locked in place. His entire frame shook as he tried to repress the tears that wanted to fall. Unable to find the words he wanted to say, he merely murmured, “Peter.”

“I’m here, Mr. Stark,” Peter returned, sounding as shaky as Tony felt. “I’m right here.”

Tony tightened his arms, holding his kid as close as he could manage. He could feel the kid’s heartbeat in his own chest. The strawberry shampoo Peter used was still buried in those warm curls. It was Peter, from head to toe.

Tony forced himself to pull back, instead cupping Peter’s face in his hands. Trusting brown eyes looked back at him, the base of those eyelids lined with tears.

“Why did you do that?” Tony asked, feeling as though his heart was breaking all over again. “Why would you do that?”

The unspoken _“to me_ ” was heard loud and clear, and the tears that Peter had been holding back spilled over onto his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Peter choked, his hands gently taking hold of Tony’s sleeves. “I’m sorry. I know how it felt for you, and I’m so sorry- I hoped you wouldn’t feel that way-”

“My kid killed himself so that I wouldn’t have to die,” Tony returned. The grief that he had held back for the past few hours slowly started to turn to anger. “I _told you_ \- I was going to be the one to jump. It was supposed to be _me_ -”

Peter shook his head. “Dr. Strange saved you, Mr. Stark. It was for a reason. We won in one future, right? Mr. Stark- _you_ needed to activate the gauntlet. It wouldn’t have worked out any other way.”

“No,” Tony insisted, feeling his own tears falling. “No, you can’t say that- You don’t know-”

“Please don’t make this harder for me, Mr. Stark,” Peter whispered, leaning slightly into one of Tony’s hands. “Please, I- I’m stuck here forever. At least don’t make me regret it.”

Tony tensed. “Wait- Forever? No, that’s- You’re not-”

“My body is dead,” Peter explained softly, breaking eye contact and looking away, “but my soul is stuck here. If there’s somewhere else I’m supposed to be – heaven, maybe hell – I can’t get there, and no one else can come here, unless they use the infinity stone.”

“When I go back,” Tony started, ducking to try and meet Peter’s eyes again. “When I go back, I’ll destroy the stones. That’ll fix everything.”

Peter shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “You’ll die.”

“I’m on borrowed time, kiddo,” Tony said. “Time that _you_ paid for. I can’t spend any more of it, not when I know you’re still here.”

“I already paid the price,” Peter said, meeting his eyes with an unspoken plea. “Don’t waste your life, Mr. Stark.

“I can spend some time in here,” Peter went on with forced enthusiasm. “I’m getting really good at creating things- I put the apartment together myself. I mean, the colors of the books on the shelves aren’t right yet, but I’m getting closer and closer.”

Tony couldn’t help himself. The bleeding grief and gleaming pride in the selflessness of his kid was overwhelming, so he pressed a kiss to the kid’s forehead and pulled him close again, choosing instead to focus on Peter’s breathing and his heartbeat, living proof that Peter was not dead.

Not alive, maybe, but not dead.

And here he was, willing to hold on to this lonely half-life for as long as possible, to allow Tony to keep living his life.

“Five years,” Tony whispered. “That’s the limit. Then, I’m breaking you out of here. Whatever it takes.”

Peter took a shuddering breath. “Thank you, Mr. Stark,” he said. “Be sure to tell Aunt May that this is my choice, okay? It’s not your fault. It’s my choice.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Click._

Pain, and then-

 

A boy.

Curled hair, warm eyes, a shining grin.

How could he have started to forget what his kid looked like?

Peter grabbed his hand. “We won, Mr. Stark.”

Tony ruffled Peter’s hair affectionately. Five years, and it was still as natural a feeling as walking.

“We won.”

**Author's Note:**

> AU where Sony only sold the rights to Spider-Man for four movies  
> Why does this feel happier to me than Endgame? Am I the only one? Don't get me wrong, I was crying while writing this, but at least they're together at the end. I don't know.  
> And yes – Damage Control pt. 2 will be up in...say...a week? Maybe less? Something like that.
> 
> QUIZ TIME – Did you spot all of the references?  
> Spider-Man: Homecoming  
> Natasha, Age of Ultron  
> Yinsen, Iron Man (2008)  
> Multiple Endgame quotes
> 
> Random question: would you guys want to see the hurt/comfort of those five months in the cabin? I don't know - I've been considering writing a bit of a prequel. Maybe in 5+1 format. Let me know! Otherwise, I'll just keep working on my other projects
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you liked it!


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